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admired his work a little too long after hitting a dinger off of Kaat when
he was pitching for the White Sox. Next time up, Evans took a heater in
the ribs. “Whenever Evans sees me, he reminds me of that,” Kaat says.
With more TV coverage and the need for players to differentiate
themselves by more than just gaudy statistics, there is going to be more
showmanship in the game. But there is no need for players to treat every
long ball as if it cured a disease.
“Don’t get too theatrical,” Kaat says. “I hope we don’t have to start
fining people, like the NFL does, for overcelebrating.”
Run, Man, Run
Every time St. Louis ran up against the Cubs during the early 1980s,
Kaat and a few of his fellow Cardinal pitchers would throw 10 bucks into
a hat, and the first person who hit Chicago outfielder Mel Hall would
get the money. Hall, who used to have batting gloves sticking out of his
back pockets so he could “wave good-bye” to people he passed on the
basepaths while sauntering around after hitting a homer, should have
worn a uniform covered in sauerkraut and mustard. Kaat’s St. Louis
teammate, Willie McGee was the exact opposite. When he hit a homer,
he ran as fast as he could.
“I told him he should slow down,” Kaat says. “He said, ‘Aw, the
pitcher feels bad enough. I don’t want to make him feel worse.’”
As recently as the 1970s, if a player hit a homer, it was a guarantee
the next guy was going to get hit—or at least buzzed—just to make sure
he knew not to think about any back-to-back stuff. That has changed
now, but if someone takes his time going around the bases, or worse,
decides to celebrate too much, then there could be trouble. MLB
administrators aren’t too happy about that, but Rodriguez prefers that
the players should be allowed to police themselves, rather than having
the umpires do it.
“I’m not a fan of Major League Baseball trying to take things away
like that,” he says. “If a guy hits a bomb off you and humiliates you, you
can’t do anything about it. If you do that, you have to wear it, okay?”
A No-No No-No
The 2011 game between Detroit and the Angels had just about
everything. A great pitchers duel. Some controversy when Anaheim
pitcher Jered Weaver was ejected when he threw over Alex Avila’s head
after Carlos Guillen stared Weaver down following his homer.
And there was a near no-hitter by Tigers ace Justin Verlander, who
had already thrown one earlier in the year. But Erick Aybar’s leadoff
single in the eighth broke the spell. His bunt single in the eighth. That
sure spawned some outrage. Aybar had broken a big unwritten rule with
his actions. You don’t break up a no-hitter with a bunt. Or can you?
The Tigers held a 3-0 lead, and Aybar’s hit led to a pair of runs.
Verlander wasn’t happy. His manager at the time, Jim Leyland, didn’t
mind. This one appears to be a judgment call. If the
game is close, it’s not a mortal baseball sin, although it
could fall into the venial category. If the rout is on, it’s
best to swing away.
“It depends who does it,” Rodriguez says. “If Miguel
Cabrera bunts in the seventh to break up a no-hitter, it
might be a problem, because that’s not part of his game.”
In 1973, Yankees pitcher Stan Bahnsen had a no-hitter
with two out in the ninth when Walt “No Neck” Williams
came to the plate. Williams, who hit only 33 homers
during his 10-year career and was known for his speed
and hustle, never considered laying down a bunt in that
situation, even though he excelled at the craft. “I was
taught early in my career that you don’t do something
like that under those circumstances” Williams said during
a 2013 interview. Instead, Williams hit a single up the
middle to break up the gem.
“If it’s 8-0 or 9-0, and a pitcher has a no-hitter, that’s
a once in a lifetime thing,” Kaat says. “You want to try to
break it up naturally.”
If a player ventures into the opposing team’s
dugout chasing a fly ball, don’t expect
assistance catching the ball, but they might
help you avoid a DL stint.
Jim Kaat, who pitched in the majors from 1959-83, understands
the game has evolved, but thinks some rules should stand.
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